Toronto’s fanciest late-night junk food classics
The Thompson Diner’s reuben
550 Wellington St. W., 416-601-3533, thompsondiner.com
The 24-hour diner offers the platonic late night reuben: tender house-spiced pastrami, gooey Swiss cheese, tangy Russian dressing and a crunchy pile of sauerkraut stacked high between two slices of toasted caraway rye. The onion rings are the size of inner tubes. $14.95.
El Caballito’s tacos
220 King St. W., 416-628-9838, elcaballito.ca
Each night at midnight, everyone at this King West tequila bar gets a free taco. The highlight of the late-night menu is a grilled flour tortilla loaded with fiery chili-peppered shrimp on a black bean purée, studded with sweet charred corn and crunchy jicama. $5.50.
Nightowl’s floats
647 College St., 647-927-4321, @nightowltoronto
This new arcade in Little Italy, offers retro consoles, fancified bar snacks and boozy ice cream floats, including the Sunset version, made with vodka, cream soda and a scoop of sprinkle-spangled vanilla ice cream. $12.
Old School’s pancakes
800 Dundas St. W., 416-815-8790, oldschoolyyz.com
On weekends, the diner stays open 24 hours, serving jacked-up breakfast food like a towering stack of five griddle cakes layered with sugar-cured smoked bacon, blueberries and whipped brown sugar butter. $13.
Junked Food Co.’s mac and cheese
1256 Dundas St. W., 647-343-5326, junkedfoodco.com
There’s regular drunk food, and then there’s Junked, takeout counter known for Dorito nachos and s’mores waffles. The Crack Mac is a clever riff on mac and cheese made with al dente noodles, an aged cheddar sauce, a punch of pico de gallo and bourbon-spiked ketchup, with Doritos for dipping. $8.95.